Year 2

Welcome to ..... Amaryllis Watch!

At the beginning of November we planted an Amaryllis bulb in a Science lesson.

We have kept it in a warm place and given it lots of water, then we started to notice the first signs of growth!

Watch this space to see how quickly our Amaryllis grows!

25.11.16

01.12.16

09.12.16

06.01.17 At last we have a flower bud!

13.01.17

20.01.17

27.01.17

03.02.17

15.02.17 Will it ever flower?!

24.02.17

03.03.17 Still waiting for a flower ...

... but it might be on its way!

10.03.17

10.03.17 Hurrah! A flower at last!

17.03.17

17.03.17

31.03.17

31.03.17 Second pair of flowers.

Symmetry

Today we worked in pairs or threes using pegs and boards to show reflective symmetry.

Finding right angles.

This morning we all made an 'angle gobbler' and then used it to track down right angles in our classroom!

International Recycle a Robot competition.

Our competition with classes in Mexico, Norway and the USA has come to a close today. Yesterday, the four teachers shared photographs of the models built by children in their classes and now the judging is complete.

Today Year 2 looked at each country's models in turn and picked their winners. At story time today we asked Miss Scudder to join us as our own winners were announced after votes in the other three countries.

On Monday the Yorkshire Evening Post is sending a photographer to school so watch out for us in the newspaper!

Please see below for the photographs of all our winners, including those from our partner countries, and every entry we received.

HUGE thanks to all the parents who helped with this project.

Our winners! L to R chosen by Norway, USA, Mexico.

The winning robots ...

Norway's choice.

USA's choice.

Mexico's choice.

... and with their creators!

The winners we chose from Norway, Mexico and the USA.

Norwegian winner.

Mexican winner.

American winner.

Fabulous Year 2 robots - thank you all!

We made the newspaper in Norway ...

... and in Leeds!

Packet Perfect for the Planet

This afternoon we were visited by Lucy from the Marks & Spencer archive. She came to talk to us about the importance and purpose of packaging, the information we can find on it and how to recognise symbols for recycling and allergy information.

We looked at lots of different M&S packaging first and found out that it can tell us a lot about a product:

allergy information

recycling symbols

storage instructions

best before and use by dates

ingredients

weight

nutrition

instructuions how to cook

address of manufacturer

Then we used a mood board to collect ideas for designing our own boxes before starting our designs on a net. We ran out of time so will have to finish these on Monday!

Key Stage 1 Sportshall Athletics

On Wednesday 18th January, eighteen Year 2 children took part in an athletics festival. They had a fantastic time, competed well and supported each other brilliantly. Thank you to Mrs. Gunn for organising this and to Mrs. Elbourne and Mr. Eatough for going with them. Enjoy the photographs - I think you can tell how fast the children were moving and how much they enjoyed themselves!

What a team!

Robots, robots, everywhere!

Our robot making project is well underway with some fantastic models already brought into school for our competition. Remember that the aim is to make your robot out of recyclable materials and that the deadline for bringing them to school is Wednesday 1st February.

Our competition has now spread to THREE other countries! Our partner school in Ciudad Victoria, Mexico has a class taking part, their partner school in Wisconsin, USA has also joined in and our new friends in Lillehammer, Norway have started their models too! FANTASTIC!

See below for photographs of some of our robots..... the final picture shows some children working together to make their robot in Norway!

Let's talk about shape ....

We have been learning about the properties of 2-D shapes.

Today, in small groups, the children had to talk to each other about a shape.

We've solved the mystery and the snowmen are safe! They were in Malawi!

Well done to Evie who came in with the correct answer this morning!

There are snowmen EVERYWHERE in Year 2!

Today (Monday 12th December) we found a clue in our cloakroom at school!

Check the blog to read all about it!

OXFAM Unwrapped - a HUGE thank you!

We have been able to buy six fantastic gifts for people in need thanks to your generosity in donating money instead of writing Christmas cards to one another. Thank you so much.

A share in a farmyard & clean water fpr ten people

A goat & a mosquito net.

Seeds and a second share in a farmyard.

Merry Christmas!!

The tree is up and all our decorations are hanging on it!

Children In Need day

How many spots in one classroom?!

Autumn 2 homework.

Some fabulous homework .... and great, creative ideas!

Year 2 reading morning

The children are really enjoying having their grown ups come into school to read every Tuesday morning - we hope the grown ups are enjoying it too!

BIG DRAW WEEK

The 2016 theme was STEAM powered, bringing together

Science,Technology,Engineering, Art and Maths.

Year 2 children designed and planned a maths machine in small groups.

This collaborative approach was the most important aspect of the work

with children having to share ideas and negotiate roles in the

construction of their machines.

History unit (the lives of significant individuals in the past

who have contributed to national and international achievements): Florence Nightingale.

Year 2 children have enjoyed learning about the life and work of Florence Nightingale. We created a timeline of her life, researched facts using the internet, wrote letters home in role and used the Scutari hospital role play area.

Horsforth Time Capsule burial

Last year, in Year 1, the children were involved in a project run by sixth form students at Horsforth School. This term we were invited, along with other local schools, to attend a ceremony for the burial of the time capsule.

Phonics

In our phonics sessions we have been studying long vowel phonemes and thinking about the graphemes that can be used to represent them.

Here is our work on the /ai/and /ee/ phonemes!

Each of us chose a hidden word from the pile on the carpet, read it and used it in a sentence before placing it under the correct grapheme.

Practical maths work.

We have been using Base 10 material to help us to understand place value.

Sometimes we work in groups, sometimes in pairs and sometimes alone.

Celebrating work from home.

Today we have reviewed the first week of homework activities completed from our Autumn 1 grid.

I must say that I was very impressed with the quality of some of the presentation and the obvious pride that so many children took in sharing their work in class. We are displaying work week by week on a dedicated board in the classroom and sharing some photographs on here in the hope of inspiring others to 'magpie' ideas for their next task! Well done everyone and thank you for all the support at home.

Year 2 - back to work!

Welcome back to a brand new year and lots of great things to do in Year 2.

How exciting was it to start the day with a letter from the Queen, thanking us for the cards and portraits we sent for her ninetieth birthday last summer?

We also got a postcard from Mrs Koopman who was thinking of us on her cruise ship!

Featherbank bear has obviously had a VERY busy summer and we enjoyed looking at the work brought in to show us his adventures.

Mrs Robinson was REALLY impressed with the number of children who completed "The Big Friendly Read" this summer and remembered to bring in their certificates to earn their place on our school wall of fame.

What a great start to a new year!

Hard at work!

Busy Featherbank bear!

Big Friendly Readers!

A letter from the Queen!

Information for parents: 2016 national curriculum test results at the end of key stage 1.